On view February 18–May 29, 2022
André Kertész (American, born Hungary, 1894–1985), Chez Mondrian, 1926, gelatin silver print, The Art Institute of Chicago, Julien Levy Collection, gift of Jean and Julien Levy, 1975.1136. © Estate of André Kertész, 2021.
In 1925, photographer André Kertész (American, born Hungary, 1894–1985) arrived in Paris with little more than a camera and meager savings. Over the next three years, he carved out a photographic practice that allowed him to move among the realms of amateur and professional, photojournalist and avant-garde artist, diarist and documentarian. By the end of 1928, he had achieved widespread recognition, emerging as a major figure in modern art photography alongside artists such as Man Ray and Berenice Abbott.
During this period, Kertész chose to print most of his photographs on carte postale, or postcard paper, making a new kind of photographic object. The small scale of the cards, while economical, also allowed them to be circulated in a way befitting an immigrant artist—shared with a widening circle of international friends or sent in an envelope to faraway family.
Organized by The Art Institute of Chicago, Postcards from Paris is the first exhibition to bring together Kertész’s rare carte postale prints. These now-iconic works offer new insight into the artist’s early, experimental years and reveal the importance of Paris as a vibrant meeting ground for international artists, where avant-garde painters, sculptors, poets, and photographers drew inspiration from each other to create new, modern ways of seeing and representing the world.
Exhibition catalogue available for purchase at the Museum Shop and at museumshop.high.org. Members receive 10% off Shop purchases.
